Forever Defiant

After an estimated 76,000 combined hours of fabrication and finishing work by the production and shore teams of American Magic, the U.S. Challenger’s first AC75 racing boat was officially named and launched on Saturday morning.

Named Defiant, the cutting-edge foiling monohull is the first America’s Cup class boat built to represent the New York Yacht Club in over 16 years. The boat underwent initial testing on Narragansett Bay earlier in the week.

Defiant was constructed at a dedicated facility in Bristol, Rhode Island, the site of America’s Cup boatbuilding efforts since the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company’s first Cup defender, Vigilant, was launched in 1893.

American Magic will continue to train in Rhode Island waters during the fall of 2019 before relocating to Pensacola, Florida for the winter.